It's tough maintaining orthodoxy and doctrinal purity in the High Church of Hot Rodding. Just when it seems that some major tenet of the theology has been perfected and is infallible, someone comes along with a car that is undeniably better because of its apostate violation of exactly that tenet. But if there's one bedrock belief upon which this religion has been built it's this: Real hot rods don't start out as Toyotas.

Apparently Mitch Allread wasn't in the pews when that particular sermon was preached. And he happened to own a '68 Toyota Corona two-door coupe that he was using as his daily driver when, one day, he decided he wanted something like a fenderless '32 Ford that was something completely unlike a '32 Ford with power from a 4.0L, DOHC, 32-valve Lexus V-8. And, for better or worse, he had the talent to make it happen.

Toyota sold a bunch of Coronas during the '60s and '70s as the company was establishing itself in America. About as boring a car as has ever been built by any manufacturer, the Corona was a unibody rear-driver with a 1.9L four up front sending a pokey 90 hp back through a four-speed manual or ToyoGlide automatic to a solid rear axle sitting on leaf springs. As common as dust in Southern California during their era, Coronas are less often seen than Lamborghinis now.

Allread's job is welding together race car and hot rod pieces. Components from his Newhall Welding shop, in Newhall, California, often ship out to North Carolina for installation into NASCAR Nextel Cup machines, and he's built complete cars that compete in various West Coast circle track series, but the Corona is the first street-bound car he's built for himself. Knowing that the Corona's flimsy structure couldn't handle the torque of the Lexus V-8, he started by welding up a tubular steel space frame with a 106-inch wheelbase (that's 10.7 inches longer than the stock Corona's). The front suspension consists of upper and lower unequal-length A-arms on either side that he fabricated, plus Carrera shocks inside Afco coil springs. In back there's a Speedway Engineering quick-change solid axle located by three links and a Watts linkage dampered, again, by Carrera shocks and Afco coilover springs. RGP manual rack-and-pinion steering handles that chore, while the braking system consists of Wilwood 1231/416-inch cross-drilled rotors at each corner clamped by six-piston calipers in front and four-piston calipers in the back.

The engine was scavenged from a wrecked '92 Lexus SC400 and installs in Allread's concoction essentially unmodified. Naturally, except for the original exhaust manifolds, Allread had to build the entire exhaust system himself. It funnels the waste gases down the center of the car, through an X-pipe to two mufflers, and out each side of the car. The result is a very un-Lexus-like sound; a loud tenor that sounds something like two old Kawasaki KZ1000s screaming along just behind each of the driver's ears. That's not a bad sound at all, actually. The same SC400 donated its four-speed automatic transmission and the shifter that controls it. Lexus drivetrains are justly famed for their smoothness and quiet, but bolt in any engine and transmission using solid motor mounts and its inherent vibration is undeniable. Rated at 250 hp when it was bolted into that Lexus coupe, the Lexus V-8 probably isn't making much more than 260 in Allread's, but it sounds and pounds like an animal.

Of course the Corona shell has been itself heavily rubbed. Allread whacked 311/42 inches out of the pillars and replaced the windshield, rear quarter-windows and rear window with Lexan (the doors' side windows are just gone). Opening up the rear-wheel openings accommodated the slight shift in wheel position and rails welded into the roof and trunklid exaggerate the car's circle track vibe. The tail is capped by a Lexan spoiler and replica '59 Cadillac taillights. Finally, he took the leading edge of each front fender, welded it to a chunk of the hood that he narrowed 17 inches, and filled the space between them with mesh. The resulting box is a grille shell that sits forward of the front tires that, along with the engine, are exposed to the open air.

Sitting on P215/45ZR17 front and P255/50ZR17 rear Nitto tires around Lexus IS300 wheels painted a PPG Powder Blue, what this car looks most like is an open-wheel modified circle tracker. Theoretically at least, the same look could be applied to a Vega, Gremlin, or Pinto and still wind up with something wicked. The interior is nearly as wacky as the exterior with two Jaz racing seats inside upholstered in orange silicone by Michael Maestas, five white-faced Auto Meter gauges for monitoring what's going on, and more orange silicone on the ceiling and floor. At just 47 inches tall with a full 'cage, this isn't an easy car to get into, and once in, the driver's and passenger's legs are shoved outward by the wide center tunnel. But it's not an uncomfortable place to be.

Allread's creation drives like the raw mechanical beast it is; it shakes, it shimmies, it rattles, but it's never less than completely amusing and thrilling. In that way at least, it drives like a lot of '32 Ford High-Boys. And if it drives like a hot rod, it must be a . . . well, we'll let you fill in the blank on this one.